Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 13 What a blessing
There are many canteens in Yanda University in later generations, from the canteens with the word "Xue" at the beginning, such as Xueyi, Xuewu, Xueliu, Xueba, Xueshi, to Yiyuan, Wusi, Fengwei, and then to Yannanyuan and Huahua Restaurant...

The numerous canteens, each with its own characteristics, nourish the taste buds and stomachs of YNU students.

But at that time, Yanda only had four canteens, and the big dining hall was one of them.

The big dining hall is only about 1952 meters away from the library. It was built in after the major adjustment of departments and faculties when Yenching University moved to Yanyuan to meet actual needs. At that time, two student canteens, one large and one small, were built. The larger one was called the "big dining hall."

The dining hall has had no seats since it was built, so it also serves as an auditorium. Whenever there are large-scale meetings, movie screenings, or art performances, the place is always full.

When Lin Chaoyang arrived at the dining hall, it was already occupied by students. Everyone had a lunch bag sewed with towels and straps, which they put in a lunch box and hung on their schoolbags.

There were long queues in front of every window in the cafeteria. It was Lin Chaoyang's first time coming in, and he wanted to see what dishes the cafeteria had and how much they cost, so he walked around in front of every window.

The dishes in the cafeteria are divided into several grades. Common vegetarian dishes such as boiled shredded potatoes, boiled cabbage, and boiled shredded radish are 5 cents each; dishes with a hint of meat such as eggs and tomatoes, and pot-fried tofu are 10 cents each; dishes that cost 15 cents are real meat dishes, such as shredded pork with fish flavor and Kung Pao chicken, and twice-cooked pork, braised pork, and four-happiness meatballs are 20 cents each, which are considered hard dishes in the Northeast.

Lin Chaoyang looked around and found the dishes looked great, especially the braised pork. He saw a student ordering a portion. The dish was shiny and greasy, and he could smell the aroma of the meat from several meters away.

Moreover, considering the conditions of that era, the dishes provided by Yanda canteen are almost better than more than 95% of canteens in the country, and the key is that the price is cheap.

A serving of braised pork is only 20 cents, and it looks like there are at least 3 taels of meat. With this price, I guess the money spent on the meat can't even be recovered.

The students of Yanda are so happy!

Lin Chaoyang stood firmly behind the braised pork line. When it was his turn to order, the guy in front of him hesitated. He hesitated for a long time between the braised pork and the pot-fried tofu, and finally chose the pot-fried tofu.

As he turned around, Lin Chaoyang caught a glimpse of the other person's appearance.

With dark skin, side-parted hair, squinty eyes and thin lips, he felt that the girl looked familiar at first sight.

Without taking even two longer glances, it was his turn to get the food. A portion of rice and a portion of braised pork were both placed in an aluminum lunch box, both of which were sticking out. It looked festive and his hands were much steadier than those of the canteen aunties in later generations.

After finishing his meal, Lin Chaoyang wanted to find a place to eat, but he realized that there were no seats left at the surrounding tables.

He looked around and found an empty seat next to the guy who was hesitating while getting his food, so he walked over.

There were no seats in the dining hall, so people had to stand to eat. Lin Chaoyang discovered that most of these students ate very quickly, but occasionally there were some who ate slowly, and from their attire one could tell that they came from well-off families.

However, what Lin Chaoyang admires most is the person who can eat and read while standing. If it were in the future, Lin Chaoyang would definitely criticize in his heart when seeing this situation: What a pretentious person!

But this was the Yenching University campus in the 1970s, and there were no such pretentious people.

This is a bit absolute, because Lin Chaoyang's mind flashed back to the "King of Force" Zhang Yaozhong whom he met on the train.

He was just thinking about something when someone patted him on the shoulder unexpectedly. He was so scared that a piece of braised pork almost got stuck in his throat.

Turning around, a sentence popped up in his mind: You really can't help but talk about it!
"I can tell from a distance that it looks like you. It's really you!"

Zhang Yaozhong's face was filled with joy at meeting an old friend, and his tone was exaggerated.

"Xiao Zhang? What a coincidence!"

The two of them greeted each other, and Lin Chaoyang quickly finished the food in the lunch box and said to Zhang Yaozhong: "I'll go wash the lunch box first, and then we'll go out and talk."

"it is good."

After washing the dishes, Lin Chaoyang carried the food out of the dining room and saw Zhang Yaozhong talking to the guy who was hesitant when serving the food. "Brother Lin! Let me introduce you. This is my classmate and junior fellow student Liu Zhenyun from the Chinese Department. He is from Henan Province and the top scorer in the college entrance examination in Henan Province this year."

The person introduced by Zhang Yaozhong seemed very familiar. In fact, he was also Liu Zhenyun whom he met when he was welcoming new students two days ago.

Lin Chaoyang finally reacted. No wonder the man looked familiar to him. It turned out to be him.

He introduced Liu Zhenyun: "Zhenyun, this is Brother Lin Chaoyang."

Lin Chaoyang shook hands with Liu Zhenyun and exchanged a few words. Zhang Yaozhong asked, "Brother Lin, why are you in Yanda? Isn't your sister-in-law studying at Yanda Normal University?"

“I work here.”

Zhang Yaozhong was surprised when he heard this. When they met on the train, Lin Chaoyang always talked to Zhang Yaozhong and checked all his personal information, but Zhang Yaozhong knew nothing about Lin Chaoyang.

He only remembered that Lin Chaoyang said that he accompanied his wife to Yanjing to study, and that he was a team teacher.

“You work here?”

"Well, I work as a librarian in the library, temporarily."

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a temporary position or not. What matters are the seven words “Yenching University Librarian”.

The young teacher who accompanied his wife to study at Yenching University on the train, turned out to be a librarian at Yenching University when they met again. This change left Zhang Yaozhong speechless.

"Hey, this...Brother Lin, I really didn't expect that..." Realizing his own gaffe, Zhang Yaozhong added, "It's fate that I can run into you again at school."

"It's fate indeed." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Zhang Yaozhong immediately became happy again, "That's good. I'll have acquaintances in the library in the future, so it'll be convenient to reserve a seat."

Lin Chaoyang didn't expect to be labeled a "tool man" on his first day at work. This guy doesn't quite consider himself an outsider.

Zhang Yaozhong was very curious about how Lin Chaoyang could become a librarian at Yanda University as a team teacher, and asked, "Brother Lin, how did you end up working at the library?"

Lin Chaoyang did not hide anything and said, "Your sister-in-law's family is from Yan University. I followed her back to the city and was arranged to work in the library as a family member of a faculty member."

After these words came out, Zhang Yaozhong's surprised eyes were filled with a bit of envy, and behind that was a bit of jealousy towards Lin Chaoyang's freeloading. He held back his expression for a long time before saying, "Brother Lin, you are so lucky!"

Not to mention him, even Liu Zhenyun, who had been listening to their conversation, found it magical.

The rural boy married a female educated youth from the city. Not only was he brought back to the city, he was also given a respectable job as a librarian at Yan University.

This unremarkable young man in front of me is really too lucky.

Lin Chaoyang had to go back to replace Hu Wenqiong for dinner, so he didn't have time to echo Zhang Yaozhong's exclamation. He chatted with him for a few more words and then said goodbye and left.

Zhang Yaozhong looked at Lin Chaoyang's back, Tao Yushu's bright face flashed through his mind, and after a long while he said leisurely: "Brother Lin is so lucky!"

"Indeed." Liu Zhenyun nodded in agreement.

Zhang Yaozhong glanced at Liu Zhenyun and said, you have no idea how blessed he is.

(End of this chapter)